You are here

Playing The Mexico Card

It is amidst this backdrop that the immigration issue was up-played to keep these two stories, indicative of a failing war, out of the public eye. The puppy dog media predictably complied, and we saw an orgy of racist, anti-immigrant views permeating the airwaves.

(Sadly, opportunist Hillary Clinton also supports the Wall).

So, George Bush and the Republicans have decided to build a Berlin Wall-type fence to keep Mexican immigrants from coming into this country. The sheer absurdity of this is breathtaking. Yet, due to the stroking of racism and fear mongering many are silent on this issue.Â Â Â Â

In a bill dubbed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, the Bush Administration has allotted over $1 billion to build this fence, including vehicle barriers, unmanned aerial vehicles, infrared remote cameras, satellites and other high-tech equipment.Â This, from an Administration that still canâ€™t rebuild the drowning communities of New Orleans. Whom do they think they are fooling? The only thing this act does is play into the insecurities and racism of many in the nation.Â Â Â Â

This racist, fear-fanning bill was made possible by Republican spin doctoring orchestrated to divert the American peopleâ€™s attention from the disasters occurring in Iraq. At the time, two major cases of war crimes in Iraq were about to blow up as major news stories. One of them was the Haditha Massacre. The other was the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the subsequent slaughter of her family members by American soldiers to cover-up the crime.Â Â Â Â

In the Nov. 15, 2005 Haditha Massacre, 24 Iraqis were killed in retaliation for the killing of Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, even though those murdered were not involved or responsible for his death. The Marine Corp stated that these civilians were killed when they returned fire while being attacked by â€œinsurgents.â€?

The story was a big lie, and even Rep. John Murthaâ€”himself a former soldierâ€”admitted that American troops â€œkilled innocent civilians in cold bloodâ€? and that the Marine Corp engaged in a cover-up of these crimes. However, the cover-up of the Haditha Massacre started coming out around the same time that another atrocity had just taken place: the rape of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. Four soldiers took part in the rape and murder of Abeer. The ringleader of the group was Pfc. Stephen Green. Green and his fellow soldiers not only raped and killed Abeer, but also killed Abeerâ€™s mother, father and five-year-old sister. After she was raped and killed they burned her body with kerosene.Â Â Â Â

It is amidst this backdrop that the immigration issue was up-played to keep these two stories, indicative of a failing war, out of the public eye. The puppy dog media predictably complied, and we saw an orgy of racist, anti-immigrant views permeating the airwaves. Canâ€™t solve the Iraq debacle? Use the Mexican â€œdarkâ€? threat as diversion.

To subscribe to or advertise in New Yorkâ€™s leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to Milton@blackstarnews.comâ€œSpeaking Truth To Empower.â€?